Mets' Dickey gets 19th win

NEW YORK — For eight innings, the only real drama that filled pumped-up Citi Field was whether R.A. Dickey would get a shutout to go along with his 19th win.

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — For eight innings, the only real drama that filled pumped-up Citi Field was whether R.A. Dickey would get a shutout to go along with his 19th win.

When the Mets' star knuckleballer went back to the mound for the ninth, a shutout seemed like a foregone conclusion, but moments later all Dickey could do was watch from the bench and hope that struggling reliever Jon Rauch could shut down the Miami Marlins with the tying run on second base.

Rauch came through by the slimmest of margins, and Dickey and the Mets breathed a sigh of relief when they escaped with a 4-3 victory on Saturday.

Dickey allowed a four-pitch walk and a double to open the ninth, and Rauch surrendered a three-run homer to John Buck before striking out Gorkys Hernandez to end it.

"We ultimately got the win but it was definitely a little harder than we wanted it to be," said Jason Bay, who staked Dickey to a 2-0 lead with a second-inning homer.

Just hours after the Mets snapped a nine-game losing streak at Citi Field on Friday and scored more than three runs in their home ballpark for the first time since Aug. 12, New York broke out the bats again in front of a crowd of 30,332.

The Marlins rallied but couldn't finish off the comeback after Buck was awarded a home run when a video review determined his drive struck the left-field foul pole.

"I knew it hit the pole and I was just waiting for the reversal," Bay said.

The Mets have won consecutive games at home for the first time since topping Houston on Aug. 25-26 — the last two games before the start of their most recent home skid.

Dickey got to 19 wins on his third try after two consecutive losses — the only time this season he has been beaten in back-to-back starts.

Washington's Gio Gonzalez, who earned his 20th win on Saturday, and Dickey are the only major leaguers with at least 19.

The knuckleballer batted for himself in the eighth, despite already throwing 104 pitches, and heard cheers and chants of his name when he returned to the mound in the ninth.

"I had a quick eighth, so I was game to try to give the fans a treat and a complete game," Dickey said. "I felt pretty good and I told Terry, 'I'm good.' He has trusted me all year. I went back out there and tried it, and he pulled me when he needed to and we won the game."

Dickey yielded two runs, six hits — including three by Solano and two by Gil Velazquez — and two walks.

Dickey nearly provided another thrill with his bat when he sent a long drive to left field with the bases loaded in the sixth, but was robbed of an extra-base hit when Bryan Petersen jumped into the fence to make a highlight-reel catch.

"That is as close as I'll probably ever get," Dickey said. "That was all this old man can do. I cheated on the pitch. He threw me a good pitch to hit. Everything was perfect."

Five of Dickey's wins this season have come against the last-place Marlins, the only team in the NL East behind the Mets. He should get one more start against them in the final series of the season in Miami.

Dickey struck out four to retake the league lead from Los Angeles' Clayton Kershaw and will be in position to reach 20 wins for the first time when he faces Pittsburgh on Thursday in his final home start of the season.

Bay provided the punch against Mark Buehrle (13-13) in the second by launching a two-run homer to straightaway center for his eighth of the season. It was Bay's second consecutive shot against Buehrle, having hit a grand slam against the left-hander in Miami on Sept. 2 to pace the Mets to a 5-1 win.

Scott Hairston pushed New York's lead to 3-0 in the fourth when he led off with his 19th homer of the season and second in two days. Hairston had to wait through a video review before he finished his trot in from second base, as the ball was originally ruled in play off the center field fence.

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